RE: OT: A commentary on CAA

October 31, 2006

The fish may stink from the head down, but talking about how a fish

smells won't kill it. Only taking out a filet knife and poking it will

cause it any pain. While the conspiracy theorists might even be right

about this one, the fact remains that 10 years from now the conspiracy

theorists will be making posts on internet sites where only a few people

are listening while future kids are given a life sentence. Change

requires pressure, pressure requires mass momentum, and gaining momentum

requires taking advantage of what your opponent gives you, and right now

this is what the opponents are giving us. We would be remiss to stand by

and do nothing because it is not exactly what we want. For our

children's sake we must take advantage of every opportunity we get

because all it takes for evil to thrive in this world is for good people

to do nothing...

- Just my 2 cents...

Regards,

Mike Bernoski

*** The future belongs to those who believe

*** in the beauty of their dreams...

________________________________

From: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

[mailto:Texas-Autism-Advocacy ] On Behalf Of

fareastphillips

Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 9:18 AM

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

Subject: OT: A commentary on CAA

October 31, 2006

An opinion/commentary by M.

The Fish Stinks from the Head Down

A long time ago, before autism was part of my daily landscape, a

friend told me " The fish stinks from the head down. " At the time,

she was referring to a hospital in crisis due to mismanagement.

Many believed mid-level managers were to blame for poor financial

performance, dismal employee morale, and physicians jumping ship --

all of which threatened the hospital's existence. But my friend,

who was " inside " , told me it was the guy at the top - the hospital

Administrator - who was really at fault.

Lately, I've been thinking about that phrase a lot. When the

Combating Autism Act (CAA) was being drafted, autism organizations

across the country were cursing, clawing and gnashing their teeth to

help design a bill that might have the slightest chance of passing.

After many hard months, twenty national organizations endorsed the

bill, S.843, though there were many painful compromises along the

way.

In fact, some organizations withdrew support because the final bill

did not go far enough to address provisions for researching

environmental factors, particularly vaccines and their components.

Too much discretion, they said, would be given to the NIH. And, the

bill boosts funding and authority of the CDC, who has been under

sharp criticism for what might be called a decade-long comedy of

errors in handling the autism epidemic, if it were at all funny.

Knowing that CAA included even some provisions mandating

environmental research into the cause of autism, I believed the bill

with this language would never pass. Lo and behold, it passed the

Senate unanimously. Immediately I thought, " The fish stinks from

the head down! " I could see where some members of the Senate could

be convinced to do the right thing, but Bill Frist? Definitely,

something fishy going on here.

Barton would have us believe his NIH bill gives us everything we

want and need, but that's hard to swallow since the NIH bill lacks

any language whatsoever to assure even one dime is spent on autism,

does nothing to mandate environmental research, and would take years

to sort out.

Fast forward to October 31, and across the country parents of

children with autism believe Joe Barton is Public Enemy Number One.

As head of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, he has

blocked the bill from a vote in the House of Representatives where

passage was reportedly " assured. " Unless Speaker of the House

Hastert basically forces Barton to release the bill from committee,

the death of CAA will become the latest blow in a series of bitter

broken promises the autism community has endured, heaping misery

upon misery.

So how was this situation orchestrated? After all, we are one week

away from mid-term elections. We can't blame our Senators, because

the bill passed unanimously in the Senate. We can't blame our

Representatives, because they haven't had a chance to cast their

vote - pro or con - since Barton holds it hostage. So, we blame

Joe Barton, and folks like Frist and Santorum can look like good

guys. Hmmm. The smell is going from bad to worse.

Could it be that Barton is willing to be the scapegoat because he's

planning to do what his predecessor, former head of the House Energy

and Commerce Committee, W. J. " " Tauzin, did? Tauzin -- who

hails from Louisiana where it's been said they don't just tolerate

corruption, they insist on it -- stepped down from his powerful post

in 2004 to take a job with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers

of America (PhRMA), a Washington lobby representing drug

manufacturers, where he makes a reported $2 million a year. .

Hmmmmmm. Maybe " " has been talking to " Big Joe " behind the

scenes to discuss his next career move?

I believe Joe Barton is not the brains behind this strategy. He's

the guy relegated to driving the getaway car because he's not smart

enough or important enough to orchestrate the inside job. Now,

mind you, Barton is fairly smart and pretty important. But after

all, Congressman Barton, you're no Bush.

You see, the head of the proverbial stinking fish resides in the

White House, where the relationship between Big Pharma and the Bush

administration is sickeningly incestuous. Eli Lilly and Company was

W's top supporter in both 2000 and 2004. Bush #1 also sat on the

Board of Lilly. Mitch s, formerly of Eli Lilly, who is now

Governor of Indiana, was Director of the Office of Management and

Budget during the Bush administration. Then there's Randall Tobias -

former Lilly chairman and CEO who now coordinates Bush

administration's $15 billion program to combat AIDS in Africa and

the Caribbean.

Other pharma appointments by Bush -- Ann-Marie Lynch, a drug-

industry lobbyist who fought price controls joined the Health and

Human Services Department where she has helped drug companies avoid

the limits. Also, E. Troy, a lawyer who represented major

drug companies and who still fights for causes that benefit them is

now chief counsel at the Food and Drug Administration. And then

there's A. Scully, a former hospital lobbyist who presided

over an agency that helped a chain he once represented win a

favorable settlement in a Medicare fraud case.

Furthermore, there's a literal army of drug company lobbyists, more

than two for every member of Congress, letting our legislators know

if their votes don't go the way of Big Pharma, then Big Pharma money

won't come their way, which for many, could mean sayonara to Capitol

Hill. One physician said it best, " The degree to which

pharmaceutical companies are running our country is appalling. "

So, the political operatives are laughing all the way to the polling

place while CAN, who initially orchestrated CAA, is off to lick its

wounds and explain to the rest of the autism community how we were

all so obviously bamboozled.

I agree much of the evidence is circumstantial. I just can't

understand why pharmaceutical companies would not themselves fund

the largest, most transparent, irrefutable studies imaginable to

once and for all exonerate themselves. I have to believe it would

have cost less than they have spent fighting this legislation for

years. If they wanted us to know the truth, they'd fund the truth.

I know there are those who believe these are the nonsensical

rantings of a crazed conspiracy theorist. I can tell you

that " conspiracy " would be too charitable an explanation for what

has happened. It's more aptly described as one monumental screw-up

followed by another, and another, and another by the FDA, CDC, AAP,

AMA - the alphabet soup of agencies and associations whose blunders

have rendered our children sick and silent.

Over the past several years, I've met many incredibly intelligent

parents, researchers and physicians who certainly know that the

problem today is much bigger than Barton. Strangely, the noise

coming from many of these parents and from many national autism

organizations sounds like they sincerely believe Barton has the

power, if even the alternative, to release this bill and help us get

on with the important work of curing autism.

But the words keep ringing in my ears, " The fish stinks from the

head down. "

October 31, 2006

Here here! And once again THANK YOU to all you GOOD PEOPLE who did SOMETHING

very big! In taking a stand!

" There is one thing greater than all the armies in the world --- an idea whose

time has come! "

Yes - the fish stinks ~ reeks horribly - and it is most definately time to

filet!

Thank you one and all who participated in person - with phone calls - and most

importantly - with your prayers!

Guppy

Mike Bernoski wrote: